Security bollard

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a a security bollard and, in particular, to a security bollard designed to be used as a protective measure to be placed in front of shop fronts and Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) that may be subjected to ramming by vehicles. The bollard includes a first upright hollow member having an outer wall defining a chamber, and a plurality of vertical longitudinal jamming rods disposed inside the chamber. Each jamming rod has associated therewith a biasing means for biasing the members in a longitudinal direction so as to act like a disk brake on cutting implements attempting to cut through the jamming rods, and to also dose the gap created by the cut should the cutting implement be retrieved and cutting attempted again.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/936,510, filed on Oct. 5, 2010; which claims benefit of InternationalApplication No. PCT. PCT/AU09/00481, filed on Apr. 17, 2009; whichclaims benefit of an Australian patent application No. AU2008000901883,filed on Apr. 17, 2008. The entire disclosure of these priorapplications are hereby incorporated by reference.

The present invention relates to a security bollard and, in particular,to a security bollard designed to be used as a protective measure to beplaced in front of shop fronts and Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) thatmay be subjected to ramming by vehicles.

FIELD OF INVENTION Background of the Invention

There exist today many security bollards and similar types ofconstructions that aim to prevent vehicular access for one reason oranother. Some of these bollards are specifically designed to preventram-raid attacks and various other attacks using moving vehicles.

Current bollards available to the public are largely made of steel andare typically filled with a concrete type mix that quite successfullystops vehicles from driving into a protected zone. However these typesof bollards may be easily cut by the use of various tools includingpowerful petrol hand held angle grinders or oxy acetylene weldingapparatus. Whilst the use of such tools may be noisy and still take anoperator several minutes to cut through a bollard, it is often shorterthen the response time of the police or security services allowingenough time for persons to gain access to an area.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide for abollard that is more resistive to being cut then those presently knownor at least provides an alternate to those currently known.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, according to a first aspect of the present invention,although this need not be the broadest, nor indeed the only aspect ofthe invention, there is provided a security bollard characterised by afirst upright hollow member having an outer wall defining a chamber; asecond vertical longitudinal member disposed inside said chamber and abiasing means associated with said second vertical longitudinal member,said biasing means adapted to continually bias said second verticallongitudinal member in a longitudinal direction so that if the secondvertical longitudinal member is cut through causing a gap, the baisingmeans causes the gap to be closed

Preferably said second vertical longitudinal member is in the form of amaterial which substantially fills said chamber, said material adaptedto be strong in compression.

In preference said bollard further includes a pressure plate disposed ata longitudinal end of said material, said biasing means being in theform of a spring adapted to apply pressure against said pressure platein a direction towards said material.

Preferably said bollard is embedded in a ground cavity, said pressureplate and spring being disposed below a ground surface inside saidchamber and adapted to provide an upwards pressure on said material. Inpreference said material is a resin mixture.

Preferably said security bollard further includes a central uprightlongitudinal tube defining a core of said bollard.

In preference said first upright hollow member is made from steel.

In an alternative embodiment, said second vertical longitudinal memberis in the form of at least one vertical longitudinal member disposedlongitudinally inside said chamber, wherein said at least one member hasassociated therewith said biasing means to bias said at least one memberin a longitudinal direction.

Preferably said bollard is embedded in a ground cavity, and each of saidbiasing means is in the form of a spring disposed below a ground surfaceinside said chamber, said spring adapted to provide an upwards pressureon said at least one vertical longitudinal member.

In preference said bollard includes a cap at an upper end thereof, andeach of said vertical longitudinal members comprises a metal shell withan internal core adapted to abut at an upper end thereof with said cap.

Preferably said security bollard includes a plurality of second verticallongitudinal members disposed circumferentially and symmetrically insidethe chamber.

In preference wherein space inside the chamber and between the secondupright longitudinal members is filled with a material strong incompression.

Preferably said material is concrete. Alternatively said material is aheat resistant resin mixture.

In preference said security bollard further includes a central uprightlongitudinal tube defining a core of said bollard.

Preferably said first upright hollow member is made from steel.

In preference said bollard is embedded in a ground cavity, said bollardincluding a horizontal member disposed at a lower end of said bollard,and said ground cavity including a locking mechanism adapted to engagesaid vertical member and thereby lock said bollard inside said cavity,said locking mechanism including engaging arms moveable between a firstlocked position in which said arms prevent vertical movement of saidvertical member and said bollard, and a second position in which saidvertical member and said bollard are vertically moveable.

Advantageously said arms are moveable between said first and secondpositions using a vertical operating lever which is accessible from anexterior of said bollard and an associated rod which connects the leverto the arms such that said arms are caused to rotate between said firstand second positions when said vertical lever is moved between an upperand a lower position.

In a further form of the invention there is proposed a security bollardcharacterised by:

-   -   a first upright hollow member having an outer wall defining a        chamber;    -   a second upright hollow member disposed inside said first        upright hollow member, said second upright hollow member having        an outer wall defining an internal core of said bollard;    -   filling material disposed longitudinally between said first and        second walls, said filling material adapted to be strong in        compression; and    -   a biasing means associated with said filling material, said        biasing means adapted to bias said filling material in a        longitudinal direction.

In a still further form of the invention there is proposed a securitybollard characterised by:

-   -   a first upright hollow member having an outer wall defining a        chamber;    -   a second upright hollow member disposed inside said first        upright hollow member, said second upright hollow member having        an outer wall defining an internal core of said bollard;    -   at least one vertically extending longitudinal jamming bar        disposed between said first and second walls; and    -   a biasing means associated with each of said jamming bars, said        biasing means adapted to bias said jamming bars in a        longitudinal direction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate an implementation of theinvention and, together with the description, serve to explain theadvantages and principles of the invention. In the drawings,

FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-sectional side view of a bollard according tothe present invention and illustrating the jamming tubes;

FIG. 2 illustrates a cross-sectional top view of a bollard according tothe present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a cross-sectional side view of a bollard according tothe present invention and illustrating the central core;

FIG. 4 illustrates a cross-sectional side view of a bollard according tothe present invention and illustrating the lock and operating lever;

FIG. 5 illustrates a cross-sectional partial side view of a bollardaccording to the present invention and illustrating the detail of thelocking mechanism; and

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The following detailed description of the invention refers to theaccompanying drawings. Although the description includes exemplaryembodiments, other embodiments are possible, and changes may be made tothe embodiments described without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will beused throughout the drawings and the following description to refer tothe same and like parts.

Turning now to the drawings in detail there is shown in FIG. 1 a bollard10 embedded below ground level 12 into a cavity 14. The bollard 10includes a metal shell or tube 15 with central core 16 extending fromthe bottom of the bollard towards the top where it abuts plate 18, thebollard then having a cap 20. Steel tubes 22 extend from below groundlevel 12 to plate 18 and each houses a jamming bar 24. Spring 26 ishoused below the tube and the jamming bar and exerts upward pressure onboth. Typical loading of pressure may be up to 80 kg and an expansion ofaround 40 millimetres.

The extension of the bollard 10 into the ground cavity 14 provides thenecessary resistant force to stop a moving vehicle and also protectsfrom tampering certain components of the bollard.

The free space within the bollard is typically filled by a resin 28 asis the free space within the steel tubes 22. The resin 28 is designed toact as a heat retardant to slow the progress of an oxy acetylene weldingapparatus and will also provide friction to the rotary or grinding bladeof a power tool, thus promoting the anti-vandalism purpose of thebollard.

As seen in FIG. 2 there are a number of steel tubes and jamming barslocated symmetrically and circumferentially within the bollard, in thiscase there being six of them spaced at 60 degree intervals. If a personattempts to cut the bollard with an angle grinder having a blade 30 theywill first cut through the shell 15 into resin 28 and will thenencounter steel tubes 22 and the jamming bars 24. Although the cuttingoperation is made difficult due to the hard material itself and thepresence of the resin, when the person has cut through the jamming bar,the spring loading will cause it to exert an upwards force effectivelyacting like a disc brake on the grinding blade.

Of course, it is not the intention to limit the invention to an upwardbiasing force, for a spring may be located at the top of the bollard orfor that fact there may be springs at either end. Furthermore thebiasing may be achieved by other means besides a spring. The readershould appreciate that when the person is trying to cut through severaljamming bars the combined braking force may be enough to prevent theeffective use of the grinding blade causing the person to withdraw thegrinding blade and cut again. But when the blade has been removed fromthe jamming bar, the spring loading will cause the cut ends of jammingbar to close up and abut each other resulting in the person having tocut through the jamming bars again.

Whilst the use of a powerful angle grinder will eventually lead to thebollard being cut, what the present invention achieves is that the timeit takes to cut the bollard has been greatly increased to the pointwhere appropriate authorities have enough time to arrive at the sceneand take effective action.

It is important to understand that the invention is not to be limited toa particular number of jamming bars extending around the central core.The number of jamming bars may indeed vary as well as their geometry.Thus there may well be disposed two “circles” of jamming bars around thecentral core. Alternatively the jamming bars may form a square patternaround the core. One may also configure the bollard with there beingmore jamming bars at one location then the other, for example, there maybe six jamming bars disposed around 180 degrees and then ten jammingbars disposed around the other 180 degrees.

The present invention can equally well be applied to a bollard that hasjust a single central core and is filled with resin, or even just resinwithout the core if that provides an appropriate barrier. Illustrated inFIG. 3 is a bollard 32 having a central core 34 surrounded by resin 36.At the bottom of the bollard there is located a free-floating pressureplate 38 biased by spring 40 that engages another pressure plate 42which is fixed in position by a compression nut 44. The spring 40provides an upward force on pressure plate 38 causing pressure to beapplied upwardly into the resin. This causes it to put pressure onto thegrinding blade and once again act as a disc brake on the grinding blade.

Such bollards also need to be removable from their cavities, forexample, when access is needed to a particular area. Therefore, eachcavity includes a locking mechanism which allows for the bollard to beremoved from within the cavity, and also to be locked there again. Ascan be observed in FIG. 4, a lock and operating lever 46 is accessiblefrom the exterior of the bollard and uses a pushrod 48 to connect to arelease mechanism, details of which are illustrated in FIG. 5. Thepushrod 48 acts on a release crank 50 that is itself connected via rod52 to a hook release bar 54. Operation of the pushrod causes the hookrelease bar to pivot the arms 56 and 58 of a locking hook around pivot60 causing their upper end to open. In between the arms is a horizontallock bar associated with the bollard, which is prevented from upwardsmotion when the arms 56 and 58 are closed, but free to move upwards whenthe arms 56 and 58 are open. There would obviously exist some form ofrestriction (not shown) which allows only designated personnel to accessthe lock and operating lever 46 of the bollard.

The reader will now appreciate the advantages of the present inventionover existing bollards. It is not the intention of this description tolimit the invention to that described and many variations to theprinciple may be employed whilst still falling under the ambit of theinvention. For example, the jamming rods may be of a circular shape, andthe biasing may be achieved by hydraulic or electro-magnetic means.Also, the voids within the bollard may be filled with differentmaterials that are designed to impede the cutting operation either byoxyacetylene or by a power tool means. Many of the internal materials ofthe bollard may be tactfully drilled with holes to reduce the totalweight of the bollard, but all the whilst maintaining the structuralstrength of the bollard.

Further advantages and improvements may very well be made to the presentinvention without deviating from its scope. Although the invention hasbeen shown and described in what is conceived to be the most practicaland preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be madetherefrom within the scope and spirit of the invention, which is not tobe limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded thefull scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent devicesand apparatus.

In any claims that follow and in the summary of the invention, exceptwhere the context requires otherwise due to express language ornecessary implication, the word “comprising” is used in the sense of“including”, i.e. the features specified may be associated with furtherfeatures in various embodiments of the invention.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A security bollard characterised by: an uprighthollow member having an outer wall defining a chamber; a verticaljamming member disposed inside said chamber; a biasing means associatedwith the vertical jamming member, the biasing means adapted to bias thevertical jamming member in a longitudinal direction so that as thevertical jamming member is cut through causing a gap, the biasing meanscauses the gap to be closed; and a material filling the rest of thechamber.
 22. A security bollard as characterised in claim 21 whereinthere are a plurality of vertical jamming members disposed within theupright hollow member, each of the vertical jamming members having abiasing means
 23. A security bollard as in claim 22 wherein the verticaljamming members are arranged circumferentially and symmetrically withinthe chamber.
 24. A security bollard as in claim 21 wherein the verticaljamming member is made from metal.
 25. A security bollard ascharacterised in claim 21 wherein the first upright hollow member ismade from steel.
 26. A security bollard as characterised in claim 22wherein the bottom end of the bollard is embedded in a ground cavity,and each of the biasing means is in the form of a spring disposed belowa ground surface inside the chamber, the spring adapted to provide anupwards pressure on each vertical jamming member.
 27. A security bollardas characterised in claim 22 wherein the bollard includes a cap at anupper end thereof, and each of the vertical jamming members abuts at anupper end of the cap.
 28. A security bollard as characterised in claim21 wherein the material is strong in compression.
 29. A security bollardas characterised in claim 28 wherein the material is concrete.
 30. Asecurity bollard as characterised in claim 28 wherein said material is aheat resistant resin mixture.
 31. A security bollard as characterised inclaim 21 wherein the bottom end of the bollard is embedded in a groundcavity, said bollard including a horizontal member disposed at thebottom end of said bollard, and said ground cavity including a lockingmechanism adapted to engage said horizontal member and lock said bollardinside said cavity, said locking mechanism including engaging armsmoveable between a first locked position in which said arms preventvertical movement of the bollard, and a second position in which thebollard is vertically moveable.
 32. A security bollard as characterisedin claim 31 wherein said arms are moveable between the first and secondpositions using an operating lever which is accessible from an exteriorof said bollard and an associated rod which connects the operating leverto the arms such that said arms are caused to rotate between the firstand second positions when the operating lever is moved between an upperand a lower position.
 33. A security bollard characterised by: anupright hollow member having an outer wall defining a chamber; a barcentrally disposed inside the upright hollow member; filling materialdisposed between the space defined by the outer wall and the bar andbeing strong in compression; and a biasing means associated with thefilling material, the biasing means adapted to bias the filling materialin a longitudinal direction.
 34. A security bollard characterised by: anupright hollow member having an outer wall defining a chamber; a barcentrally disposed inside the first upright hollow member; a pluralityof vertically extending jamming bars disposed between the outer wall andthe bar; and a biasing means associated with each of the jamming bars,the biasing means adapted to bias the jamming bars in a longitudinaldirection.